Makenna's 8th Grade Dance Recital

Two Very Happy Little Boys

A New School Year

This summer flew by so fast! I can't believe that summer vacation is long gone and that the kids have been back in school for three weeks already. Here are some pictures from the first day of school along with a little info about the new school year.

Makenna has loved middle school, so she was actually excited to go back to school this year to spend more time with her friends, particularly Natasha, Riley, and Hannah. Unfortunately, returning to school has had its donwside. She keeps complaining that all these boys keep coming over to talk to her all day. Poor thing ;-) .

Makenna is on the Lyon Locomotion Dance Team again and is loving it just as much as she did last year. They performed at an assembly the morning of the first day of school. She and the other girls did a great job!

I was a little nervous for Matthew to go to middle school, but he is really enjoying it so far. He likes being able to move from class to class, though doing so in less than three minutes can be a bit of a challenge.

Matthew loves science! He is particularly interested in the dinosaurs, evolution, and the solar system.

Jonathon is in Mr. Rowley's fourth grade class this year. He likes his teacher, but misses all of his old friends from last year, most of whom are in Mrs. Simpkin's class. Fortunately, he is starting to make some new ones.

Jonathon and Kevin both live for the weekends when their friends Omer and Vance come visit their dad, who lives in our neighborhood. They love building forts together, playing on the wii and playstation, and watching movies. Life can get a little crazy in our house on the weekends. :-)

Kevin is enjoying afternoon kindergarden in Mrs. Hammon's class. He has made a new friend named Ruger, but still plays with his friend Dominic.

Kevin has been working hard to learn all his letters. He is such a sweetheart! I'm happy to be able to have him at home with me during the morning.

This is a picture of the "Brother Friends." They do their share of fighting, but they are also best friends.





Playing Catch up-Jonathon as Franklin D. Roosevelt for his 3rd grade Chataqua

Playing Catch Up-Matthew's 5th Grade Graduation

The T-Shirt My Brother Made For My Parents A Few Years Ago

August Update

Here's a synopsis of some of the things the kids have been up to over the last few months-

Makenna's had a fun summer! She went to Girls' Camp for the second year. This year the girls got to stay in someone's huge luxury vacation cabin up in Utah. I was more than a little envious! Not surprisingly, Makenna had a great time! She has been spending a lot of time this summer with her friend Natasha. I think the picture above is from the trip to Knotts Berry Farm near the end of the school year. Natasha has a pool, so Makenna loves going there to swim. She always comes home looking like a lobster no matter how much sunscreen she has applied. Makenna and the rest of the kids have been able to spend some time with Grammy Mimi in California, where they've played at the beach and Knott's Berry Farm. Last week Makenna attended dance camp here in Overton. She had a great time, though she came home super sore every day.

Matthew graduated from fifth grade in June! I can't believe he is going into middle school?!! Crazy! Matthew spent most of June and part of July traveling the country with my parents. I missed him, but knew he was having a great time. They spent a week in Tennessee, a week in North Carolina, and a week in Massachusetts. So far he's been to 47 states so far, all but Alaska, Hawaii, and North Dakota. I'm so happy that he has had the opportunity to travel with my parents. This is the third year he has shared in their adventures.

Jonathon had a very exciting last day of school. A few years ago he received a certificate for perfect attendance plus a candy bar from the principal. This year he decided he set a goal to reach perfect attendance again. I was really proud of how hard he worked to accomplish his goal. He even passed up missing school to go to the fair and was one of the few kids who attended that day.  On the last day of school he was presented, not with a candy bar, but with a beautiful red bike! Definitely a wonderful surprise! He has had a fun summer visiting California, spending WAY too much time on the Wii and the PlayStation 3, and playing with friends.

Although Kevin really liked kindergarten, he has definitely enjoyed having some time off for the summer. He's kept busy playing with his "brother friend" Jonathon, playing the PlayStation 3, and shooting his water gun. We recently celebrated his sixth birthday, but I still think of him as my little tiny baby. I guess he will always be my baby. Like the other kids, he enjoyed spending time in California with his relatives and has decided that he wants to live in California someday.

April Update

We kicked off the month of April by attending the Clark County Fair and Rodeo. We usually spend both Thursday and Friday at the fair, but this year we decided to just go on Thursday.  I went to the fair that morning with Kevin's kindergarten class and enjoyed experiencing the fair with four adorable five-year-olds. At noon, I went home and picked up Makenna and Matthew, dropped Makenna off at her friend Natasha's house, then hooked up with Jonathon's class. Unfortunately, there was really horrible, dusty wind that day and we could barely stand up or see straight, so Jonathon's class ended up going back to the school early. We'd pre-purchased carnival tickets. so we stuck it out to get our money's worth and the children enjoyed the carnival rides. Makenna spent the day at the carnival with her friend Natasha, so we didn't see much of her. On Friday, I gave my kids the option of attending school or staying home. Makenna chose to stay home, but all my boys went to school and were one of just a handful of students in class that day.

Later in the month, we enjoyed Spring Break relaxing at home, picnicking at the Valley of Fire, playing with friends at the park, and spending time together. That weekend, Jared took the kids down to Newport Beach to celebrate Easter with his family.

Here is a little update on what the kids have been up to this month-

Kevin  had a great month. To our immense relief, his missing glasses turned up. He looks so adorable in them! I wish he was wearing them for his pictures, but he forgot them. He picked out his own clothes that day, as you can probably tell by his mismatched outfit. I was just relieved that he had put his shirt on correctly since most mornings he puts it on backwards and I have switch it around. He also likes to wear his clothes over his pajamas, and I usually let him do it. One week he took layering to a whole new level and wore his pajamas, three shirts, and a jacket to school. Silly boy!

Kevin continues to enjoy having play dates with his friend Dominic, playing the wii, and attending kindergarten. Each week he looks forward to a "Fun Friday", the day when he and the other kids get to play with toys and eat treats at kindergarten. This month Kevin has enjoyed watching "Johnny Test" on Netflix and reading Green Eggs and Ham with me. A couple of weeks ago he lost his first tooth and was subsequently visited by the tooth fairy. 

Lately Kevin has been obsessed with my "tummy", rubbing it, kissing it, lying on it, and squeezing the "chub." It drives me crazy, but I am trying to endure it as best as I can since he obviously finds it extremely comforting.

My favorite moment each day is seeing a cute little blond boy with glasses and a big smile jumping off the school and running towards me. He is such a sweetheart!

Jonathon's birthday is coming up in May, so he's been busily trying to finish all his Wolf requirements, happily planning his birthday festivities, and anxiously anticipating the arrival of a watch he ordered for his birthday. He continues to pass of his math facts at school at lightning speed and has been finishing his homework during his daily ride home on the school bus.

A few weeks ago Jonathon made homemade paper wallets for everyone in the family. They actually turned out pretty cute. Hopefully I can get some pictures of them on next month's "Update" post.

A few days ago Jonathon put a carton of chocolate pudding in his backpack, which got all over his music folder and textbook. He was pretty upset over it, but we were able to replace the folder and clean up the book, so it all worked out okay.

After weeks of listening to Matthew's pleas, I finally agreed to take him to the store to buy a magnifying glass. On the way there, he told me that he wanted to use it to set things on fire. Needless to say, we had a long talk before we actually made the purchase.  I told him he could set little leaves or twigs on fire as long as he was very careful.  He enjoyed doing that few that for a few weeks until the smell of smoke led me to a full-blown log fire in our front yard. Since then he's been prohibited from starting fires, but that didn't keep him from taking his magnifying glass to school, where it was confiscated. He's been begging me to go pick it up for him, but I'm not feeling particularly inclined to do so.

A few weeks ago, Matthew discovered on Netflix a 65-episode documentary on the Universe. He's been it everyday, much to the chagrin of his youngest brother.

I can't believe that he'll be going onto Middle School next year!! Where has the time gone??

As mentioned in an earlier post, Makenna made the Lyon Locomotion Dance Team again. Hooray! She had a great experience this past year and is looking forward to what will hopefully be another great year. Unfortunately, their dance coach, Sara Leavitt, is moving to Utah. She did an amazing job and will be greatly missed. Their new coach will have some big shoes to fill.

This morning was a crazy one in our household. To start at the beginning, last night Makenna's best friend Natasha came over at 9 p.m. to spend the night in anticipation of the school's pride trip to Knott's Berry Farm the following morning. Were they ever hyper?!! At eleven thirty p.m. I had to come out and tell them that if they wanted me to get them to the school by 3:10 a.m. to leave for the trip, they had better let me some sleep. I reminded them to wake me up a few minutes before they needed to leave, then went back to bed. Next thing I knew, a frantic Makenna rushed into my room and announced that it was already 3:50 a.m. and she had slept through her alarm. We had a few minutes of panic, but it all turned out okay. Fortunately, the principal had been kind enough to hold the bus for them so they were still able to go.  Whew!!!  Hopefully she had a fabulous time at Knott's Berry Farm and made it on time for the return bus trip. She and her group should be eating at the Barstow McDonald's right now.

We are looking forward to next month! May means May Day Dances, Jonathon's birthday, and the winding down of the school year. Hopefully, it will be a great month!

Dance Team Tryouts

Makenna made the dance team again this year! Hooray! About 60 girls tried out, so it was really quite an accomplishment. Here are a few random pictures from last year...

Dance Camp Eighties Day at Dance Camp

Pool Party